Five Years After Lehman Brothers’ Collapse, Where Does Georgia Stand?

Emory Economics Professor Essi Maasouimi points to high unemployment, a smaller work force and a widening income gap as evidence of problems still to come for the US Economy. He says the government’s repeated decisions to print new money have merely covered up the problems.

“Those have merely delayed dealing with the issue that arose in 2008,” Maasouimi says.

Maasouimi says Georgia was one of the states most affected by the recession and its real estate market continues to struggle, though reports indicate the market has seen growth over the past few years.  Maasoumi says because the state’s economy depends heavily on manufacturing and agriculture, not finance, Georgia’s recovery depends on the nation’s.

“The recovery has to be real. Reduction on unemployment has to be real, generally speaking, for Georgia to benefit in a significant way,” Maasouimi says.

Georgia’s unemployment is currently 8.8 percent – that’s above the national average at 7.3.